Stoker feeding mechanism



Nov. 24, 1931. L. L. HINSCH STOKER FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 5, 1.930 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor? @FMfM Nov. 24, 1931. L. L. HINSCH 1,833,647

STOKER FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 5, 1930 Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. a

Patented Nov. 24, 193i UNITED'STATES PATENT OFF-ICE LOUIS L. HINSCH,- F SIDNEY, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLEVELAND STOKER COMPANY,

OF GLEVELANDQOHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO sroxnn. FEEDING MECHANISM Application filed December 5, 1930. Serial in. 500,325.

This invention relates to, intermittently operating feeding mechanism for stokers and" more particularly to that type of intermittently operatingapparatus in which the feeding operation takes place for a definite part of a given time cycle, and in which the duration of the feeding operation is variable at will. I

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a comparatively simple, eflicient, re-

liableand inexpensive apparatus that will be especially adapted for the smaller types of stokers such as are used for domestic puroses.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus, of. the'type specified, in which the duration of the feeding operation may be varied at will by a simple, convenient and fool-proof means.

' Other objects of the invention and the features of novelty will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a mechanism embodyingv my invention, the section being taken substantially on the line 11 of Fig. 2.

F ig. 2 is a section of the same apparatus Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and I i Fig.4 is a bottom plan of certain details, as seen from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. T

Referring to the drawings, 10' indicates a 7 suitable housing having a removable cover 11 and a suitable number of adjustable sup-i porting legs 12. A driving shaft 13 extends transversely through the housing 10 and is supported in the anti-friction bearings 14 and may be driven by an electric motor, which may be connected by a suitable coupling to the end 15. A- blower housing 16 is secured to one side of the housing 10 by means of the bolts 17, and the shaft 13 extends into the housing 17 and carries therein an impeller 18 for supplying air to the stoker mechanism with which the feeding mechanism is used. The intake for the blower casing 16 '50: is indicated at19 and is controlled by ana'djustable valve 20 which is mounted on a threaded stud 21. .An oil trough 22 is arranged in the upper part of the housing 10 for the purpose of feeding oil to the bearings 14 and other working parts. 7

A shaft 23 is arranged in the housing 10, below the shaft 13, and is supported in the bearings 24 and 25. One end of the shaft 23 is squared, as indicated at 26, for the purpose of providing a driving connection with the screw conveyor 27 by which the coal is fed from a hopper 28 to the burner of the stoker. A worm gear 29 is loosely mounted on the shaft 23 and carries on one side an eccentric 30 which may be either integral with the gear 29 or bolted or riveted thereto. The worm gear 29 is driven by means of a worm 31 on the shaft 13. It will thus be seen that the constant rotation of the shaft 13 will cause the gear 29 and eccentric 30 to be constantly rotated about the shaft 23, but at a correspondingly reduced speed. A11 eccentric strap 32 surrounds the eccentric 30 and has an arm 33 which is connected with the lower end of a lever 34, by means of the pivot pin 35.

'The lever 34 has an integral hub 36 that is loosely mounted on the shaft 37 and provided with oil holes 34. This shaft 37 extends par-- shear pin42 is secured in the shaft 23 and extends into a notch 43 in the hub 41 and thus forms a driving connection between the hub 41 and the shaft 23. The projecting end of the shaft 23 is squared, as indicated at. 44, to receive a hand lever by means of which the shaft 23 and the screw conveyor 27 may be manually operated, in case of emergency. A pawl 45.v is mounted on a pivot pin 46, carried by the lever 34, and this pawl co operates with the ratchet wheel 40 so as to intermittently rotate the latter, as the lever 34 is oscillated by the eccentric 30.

A lever 47 is pivotally mounted on a'stud shaft 48, that is suitably supported'on the casing 10. The lower end of this lever carries a pin 49 which engages a block 50 that is mounted in the forked upper end 51 of the lever 34, so that the oscillation of the lever 34 will cause the lever 47 to be' oscillated in unison therewith, The upper end of the 1 lever 47 carriesa pivot 52 through which the rod 53 extends, this rod carrying a cotter pin 54 and a spring 55 by means of which the rod 53 'may be reciprocated. The rod 53 may actuate suitable mechanism (not shown) for oscillating the grate or the ash conveyor, of the stoker, or both. V

A gear wheel 56 is loosely mounted on a bronze bushing 56 which is loose on a shaft 57 that is supported in the bearings 58 and 59, in theupper part of the housing 10. The bushing 56 is held from rotating by the arm 57 that is secured to the housing 10. The gear Wheel 56 meshes with another gear wheel 60 that isloosely mounted on the shaft 23, and a pinion 61 isrotatably mounted on a stub shaft 62 and has rigidly secured thereto a ratchet wheel 63 with which an actuating pawl 64 cooperates. A ranged to cooperate with the ratchet wheel 63. and is supported on a stub shaft 66., on the housing 10, the purpose of the pawl 65 being to prevent backward rotation of the ratchet wheel63. The pawl 64 is carried by a pivot 67 whichis screwed into the end of the hub 36 so that the pawl 64 will oscillate with the lever 34 and intermittently rotate the ratchet wheel 63 and the pinion 61.

An arm 70 is pinnedor otherwise secured to the shaft 57, as indicated at 71, and carries a pin 72 which projects through any one of a series of openings 73, in the gear wheel 56. The pin 72 and the arm 70 thus form a driving connection between the gear wheel 56 and the shaft 57. A coil spring 74 is arranged on the shaft 57 between a pin 75, in the shaft, and a washer 76 which engages the inner end of the bearing 59. On the outer end of the shaft 57 there is a knob 77 by means of which the shaft 57 may be drawn outwardly, against the tension of the spring 74, and then rotated to locate the'pin 72 many desired one ofthe holes 73, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. As will be seen from Fig. 2, the pin 72 normally projects'into the plane of a lever '7 8 and would strike the cam 79, thereon, when the lever 78 is in one of its positions, as will be hereinafter described. The lever 78 is loosely mounted on the shaft 37 and has a hub 68 which abuts against the end of the hub 36. An extension 80 on the lever 78 carries a boss 81 in. which one end of the rod '82 is secured. The rod 82 extends parallel with the shaft 37 and'has its other end supported by a detent 83 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 37 so as to be oscillatable thereon.

The pawl 45 carries a plate 84 which is flexibly secured to the pawl by means of a pin pawl 65 is also ar- 85 and a screw 86, the latter having a coil spring 87 thereon which engages the plate 84 but permits the upper end of the plate (as seen in Fig.1), to swing to the right, when necessary to prevent destructive stresses on the parts. The lower end of the plate 84 is adapted to engage with a finger 88, on the detent 83, when the upper end of the lever '34 swings to the right, as seen in Fig. 1.

The gear wheel 60 carries a pin 89 which projects into the. plane .of the lever 78 and is adapted to engage with the cam 90, on this lever. Asp'ring 91 is secured in the housing 10 and has two notches 92 and 93 with which the outer end of-the lever 78 is adapted to alternately engage to hold the lever in its two operating positions.

In the operation of the apparatus,'assuming that the shaft 13 is being continuously rotated, the eccentric 30 will likewise be continuously operated and oscillate the lever 34;

The oscillation of the lever34 will cause the pawl 64 to intermittently rotate the ratchet wheel 63 and the pinion 61, and the latter will drive thegear 60 which, in turn, drives the gear 56. The pin 89, being carried by the gear 60, will rotate with the latter. The directions of rotation of the gears 56 and 60 are indicated by the arrows adjacent thereto.

With the parts in the positions shown, the

78 is in its lower position, and in this posi-.

tion the detent' 83 is in its upper position where the finger 88 will engagewith the plate 84, as just described. The lever 78 is retained .in its lower position by the engagement of the outer end of the lever with the notch 93 of the spring 91 and as the gear wheel 60 rotates in the direction of the arrow the pin 89 will engage with the cam and lift' the lever 78 until its outer end engages in the notch 92 of the spring 91. The operation of lifting the lever 78 causes the 'detent 83to move to its lower position where the plate 84 will pass over the finger 88 and thus permit the pawl 45 to actuate the ratchet wheel 40' and, in turn, rotate the'screw conveyor 27.

TVith the pin 7 2 arranged as shown in Fig. 3, and the lever 78 in its upper position, the continued rotation of the gear wheels 56 and 60 will cause the pin 72 to engage with'the cam 79, shortly after the lever 78 has been raised, and return the lever to theposition shown in Fig. 3, which is the nonfeeding position. Therefore, with the arrangement of j the pin 72, shown in Fig. 3, the duration of ,the feeding movement will be only a relatively small part of the time cycle, the length of this time cycle being the time required for the gears 56 and 60 to make one complete revolution. The arrangement of the parts, as shown in Fig. 3, therefore provides for a relatively long non-feeding interval.

By drawing outwardly on the knob 7 7, the pin 72 may be withdrawn from any of the openings 73 and then by rotating the knob and the shaft 57 to which it is secured, the arm 70 may be swung around and the pin 72 allowed to enter any of the desired openings 73. By thus changing the position of the pin 72 from one of the. openings 73 to another, the duration of the feeding and nonfeeding portions of the time cycle may be varied at will, from maximum to minimum.

,Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a feeder, a shaft operatively connected with said feeder, a ratchet wheel having a driving connection with said shaft, an oscillating lever, power means for oscillating said lever, a pawl actuated by said lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel toactuate the same, a rotatable member actuated by said power means, a detent movable between two positions and so arranged that in one position it is adapted to be engaged by said pawl to hold the latter out of operating engagement with said ratchet wheel, a rocking lever arranged adjacent said member and operatively connected with said detent to move the latter to its different positions, a pin adjustable to different positions on said member and rotatable therewith, said pin being adapted to actuate said rocking lever to move said detent to one of its positions, and means for actuating said rocking lever to return said detent to the other i of its positions.

2. In apparatusof the class described, the combination of a feeder, a shaft operatively connected with said feeder, a ratchet wheel having a driving connection with said shaft, an oscillating lever, power means for oscillating said lever, a pawl actuated by said lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel to actuate the same, apair of rotatable members actuated by said power means, pins carried by said members, a rocking lever arranged adjacent said members and adapted to'be alternately engaged by said pins and moved in opposite directions thereby, and a detentoperatively connected with said rocking lever and having two positions one of which is in the'path of said pawl and the other of which is out of said path whereby the pawl will be prevented from actuating said ratchet wheel when said detent is in the first-mentioned position-and will actuate said ratchet wheel when saiddetent is in the second-mentioned position. 7 o

- 3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a feeder, a shaft operatively connected with said feeder, a ratchet wheel having a driving connection with said shaft,

an oscillating lever, power means for oscillating said lever, a pawl actuated by said lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel to actuate the same, a pair of rotatable members actuated by said power means, pins carried by said members, a rocking lever arranged adjacent said members and adapted to be alternately engaged by said pins and moved in opposite directions thereby, means for adjusting the position of one of said pins on the member which carries it whereby the successive movements of said rocking lever may be relatively varied as to their times of occurrence, and a detent operatively connected with said rocking lever and having two positions one of which is in the path of said pawl and the other of which 'is out of said path whereby the pawl will be prevented from actuating said ratchet wheel when said detent is in the first-mentioned position and will actuate said ratchet wheel when said detent is in the second-mentioned position.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a feeder, a shaft operatively connected with said feeder, a ratchet wheel having a driving connection with said shaft, an oscillating lever, power means for oscillating said lever, a pawl actuated by said lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel to actuate the same, a pair of rotatably mounted intermeshing gear wheels, a pawl and ratchet wheel actuated by said lever and operatively connected with said gear wheels to rotate the latter, pins carried by said gear wheels, a rocking lever arranged adjacent said gear wheels and adapted to be alternately engaged by said pins and moved to different positions thereby, means for holding said rocking lever in its different positions, and a detent operatively connected with said rocking lever and having two positions corresponding to the said positions of said rocking lever, one of the positions of said detent being in the path of the first-mentioned pawl and the other of said positions of said detent being out of said path whereby the pawl will be prevented from actuating the first-mentioned ratchet wheel when said detent is in its first-mentioned position and will actuate said ratchet wheel when said detent is in the second position.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a feeder, a shaft operatively connected with said feeder, a ratchet wheel having a driving connection with said shaft,

an oscillating lever, power means for oscillating said lever, a pawl actuated by said lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel to actuate the same, a pair of rotatably mounted intermeshing gear wheels, a pawl and ratchet wheel actuated by said lever and operatively connected with said gear Wheels to rotate the latter, pins carried by said gear wheels, a

rocking lever arranged adj acent' said gear Wheels and adapted to be alternately engaged by said pins and moved to different positions thereby, means for holding said rocking lever in its different positions, means for adjusting the position of one of said pins circumferentially of the gear wheel which carries it Whereby the successive movements of said rocking lever may be relatively varied as to their times of occurrence, and a detent operatively connected with said rocking lever and having two positions one of which is in the path of said first-mentioned pawl and the other of which is out of said path whereby said pawl will be prevented from actuating the first-mentioned ratchet wheel when said detent; is in the first-mentioned position and will actuate said ratchet wheel when said detent is in the second position.

*Intestimony whereof, I hereunto aifix my 

